Semantic Web-Based Information Systems: State-of-the-Art ...
Semantic Web-Based Information Systems: State-of-the-Art ...
Semantic Web-Based Information Systems: State-of-the-Art ...
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S ngh, Iyer, & Salam<br />
by <strong>the</strong> e-marketplace, <strong>the</strong> transaction cost reductions can benefit e-marketplace<br />
participants, while <strong>the</strong> increase in switching costs applies to switching from an emarketplace<br />
participant to a non-participant firm.<br />
Integrative technologies that support <strong>the</strong> transparent exchange <strong>of</strong> information and<br />
knowledge make it easier for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> inter-organizational relationships<br />
through enhanced adaptability and standardization <strong>of</strong> content representation.<br />
This is increasingly prevalent through efforts such as ebXML (www.ebXML.org),<br />
<strong>Web</strong> services, and systems architecture standards, which allow standardization <strong>of</strong><br />
content representation, with implications for technology adaptation and enterprise<br />
applications integration (Davenport & Brooks, 2004). By defining <strong>the</strong> standards for<br />
adaptability and standardization, e-marketplaces can help define <strong>the</strong> information<br />
technology standards that are in use by all participant organizations, allowing for<br />
easy interoperability and integration <strong>of</strong> key systems <strong>of</strong> participant organizations.<br />
In this regard, e-marketplaces are viewed as inter-organizational information systems<br />
that allow participant firms to integrate <strong>the</strong>ir information technologies in a<br />
<strong>Semantic</strong> e-business architecture that facilitates transparent information exchange<br />
(Choudhury, 1997).<br />
<strong>Semantic</strong>.E-Business.Vision...................<br />
and.Applications<br />
<strong>Semantic</strong> e-business applies fundamental work done in semantic <strong>Web</strong> technologies,<br />
knowledge management, intelligent agent systems, and <strong>Web</strong> services to support <strong>the</strong><br />
transparent flow <strong>of</strong> knowledge, content, and know-how, and enable semantically<br />
enriched collaborative e-business processes. Institutional trust among <strong>the</strong> collaborative<br />
partners engaged in semantic e-business processes, as well as information<br />
assurance <strong>of</strong> all flows between integrated systems in <strong>the</strong> semantic e-business<br />
network, is essential to <strong>the</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vision. <strong>Semantic</strong> e-business requires a<br />
trusted and secure environment. Organizations develop descriptions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir business<br />
processes and business rules using semantic knowledge representation languages,<br />
such as OWL, in a format that allows for reasoning by intelligent s<strong>of</strong>tware agents.<br />
Business processes consist <strong>of</strong> workflow descriptions that describe individual tasks<br />
at an atomic transactional level. At this transactional level, <strong>the</strong> individual services<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered by organizations can be described using semantic languages. In addition,<br />
product ontologies and meta-ontologies describe <strong>the</strong> relationships between <strong>the</strong><br />
various resources utilized, required, or created by an organization in <strong>the</strong> semantic<br />
e-business network. The semantic e-business framework (Figure 3) utilizes (existing)<br />
information technology infrastructure, including <strong>Web</strong> services architecture to<br />
provide <strong>the</strong> transport infrastructure for messages containing semantic content.<br />
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